FELIS. 
FEELING, one of the five external 
senses, by which we obtain the ideas of so- 
lid, hard, soft, rough, hot, cold, wet, dry, 
and other tangible qualities. This sense is 
the coarsest, but at the same time, the 
surest of all others ; it is besides the most 
universal. We see and hear with small por- 
tions of our body, but we feel with all. Na- 
ture has bestowed that general sensation 
wherever there are nerves, and they are 
every where, where there is life. Were it 
otherwise, the parts divested of it might be 
destroyed without our knowledge. It 
seems that upon this account, nature has 
provided that this sensation should not re- 
quire a particular organization. The struc- 
ture of the nervous papillae is not abso- 
lutely necessary to it. The lips of a fresh 
wound, the periosteum, and the tendons, 
when uncovered, are extremely sensible 
without them. These nervous extremities 
serve only to the perfection of feeling, and 
to diversify sensation. Feeling is the basis 
of all other sensations. 
FELAPTON, in logic, one of the six 
moods of the third figure of syllogisms , 
wherein the first proposition is an universal 
negative, the second an universal affirma- 
tive, and the third a particular negative. 
FELIS, the cat, in natural history, a genus 
of Mammalia of the order Ferae. Generic 
character : six foreteeth, intermediate ones 
equal, three grinders on each side ; tongue 
prickly backwards ; claws retractile. Ani- 
mals of tills comprehensive class never unite 
in companies for mutual defence, but ac- 
complish their ferocious and bloody pur- 
poses with solitary energy. They are swift 
and strong, have many of them, a peculiar 
facility in climbing trees, and falling from 
any considerable height, alight on their feet. 
They spring on their prey with the sudden- 
ness of lightning, and suck its blood before 
they devour it. They will eat vegetables, 
only when other food is not within their 
reach. They are principally distinguished 
by their large and pointed claws, which are 
lodged in a sheath, and protruded or with- 
drawn at pleasure. The numerous species 
of this genus differ extremely in size and 
in colour, but in form and character, pos- 
sess a family resemblance, and are crafty, 
fierce, and sanguinary. There are twenty- 
three species, of which we shall notice those 
which follow : 
F. leo, or the lion. This is the largest 
species of the Felis genus, and has occa- 
sionally been known to measure eight feet 
in length, exclusively of its tail, which is 
about three or four. Its colour is of a pale 
tawny, and the male possesses an extremely 
full and flowing mane. The female is des- 
titute of this, and is considerably smaller 
than the male. It has been known to live 
in a state of confinement, to the age of 
sixty-three, or seventy years, though from 
a philosophical examination of its general 
structure, it would be concluded that its 
average duration would not exceed twenty- 
five. The parental affection of the lioness 
is extreme : in support of her young she 
braves the most formidable dangers, and is 
wrought up to a pitch of agitation and ex- 
ertion, which render her in such circum- 
stances, a more terrible adversary than the 
lion himself. She produces her young in 
the most remote and sequestered situations, 
and to provide for their wants, engages in 
the most rapid excursions, and most daring 
attacks, returning to her cubs with the fruit 
of her toils and dangers, with the most im- 
patient impetuosity, and feeding them with 
the yet convulsed members of her prey. It 
is reported, by some authors, that she en- 
deavours, occasionally, to obscure the track 
to her den by brushing out the marks of it, 
with her tail, and when suspicious of par- 
ticular danger to her young, will remove 
them in her mouth to a place of greater 
security, with looks of unutterable menace 
and antipathy at any creature, however for- 
midable, which may shew the slightest dis- 
position to impede her progress. She pro- 
duces but one litter, consisting of four or 
five in number, in the year. These are at 
first extremely small, little exceeding the 
size of a half grown kitten, and they are 
five years in attaining their full growth. 
The lion is found in the warmer regions 
of Asia, but attains his highest perfection 
in the interior of Africa. His strength is 
such, that with a single stroke of his paw 
he has broken the back of a horse, and he 
has been known, not unfrequently, to carry 
off a young buffalo between his teeth. 
He rarely engages in full daylight in the 
pursuit of prey, but on the approach of 
night quits his habitation, and with a roar 
which can be resembled only to a peal of 
thunder, and overwhelms the other inhabi- 
tants of the wilderness or forest with con- 
sternation, commences his career of liavock. 
His sense of smell is far from being acute, 
and he depends in the chase only upon 
actual sight or probable inference. He 
frequently consumes at one repast sufficient 
to satisfy him for two or three days; he 
breaks the bones of the buffalo with perfect 
